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Using credit cards abroad 'to cost £73m'
Using credit cards to pay for purchases on holiday will cost Brits an estimated £73 million this summer, according to Abbey Credit Cards.
Abbey said fees charged by lenders for converting transactions made in foreign currency are typically around three per cent, which can soon add up.
More than half of holidaymakers are planning to use a credit card to pay for purchases abroad this summer, according to Abbey, with the average users putting 41 per cent of their holiday costs on plastic.
It also found that one in ten people are still paying off their holiday bill from last summer.
Callum Gibson, head of credit cards at Abbey, called the amount paid by Britons in fees "a staggering and unnecessary sum at a time when people are having to manage their finances more carefully".
Consumer magazine Which? this week warned that holidaymakers waiting to buy their foreign currency at the airport face getting stung by high exchange fees.
On average, airport branches of Travelex charge £47 more for buying €500 than other providers, it found.